Real Madrid beat Barcelona to Spanish ace Marco Asensio – thanks to tennis superstar Rafa Nadal
World No 1's uncle was the Mallorca sporting director and Rafa got him to liaise with Real president Florentino Perez over deal
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WHEN Marco Asensio smashed in Real Madrid's third goal in Wednesday's Super Cup defeat of Barcelona he rubbed salt into the wound of the Nou Camp hierarchy.
His strike also gave another thumbs up to tennis ace Rafa Nadal.
Had Barca not squabbled with Mallorca over a £4.5million fee in 2014 he could have been their man.
Instead, Asensio joined Real - as it turned out for about £3m - a year later and now he is tipped to become the best Spanish player of his generation.
And his eventual move was all prompted by a phone call from Nadal to his uncle Miguel Angel.
Asensio, 21, has shot to prominence after scoring in the Champions League final and netting a hat-trick for Spain at the Euro Under-21 Championships.
But it was at boyhood club Real Mallorca where he first caught the eye... and this is where the Nadal connection came in.
Explained Real president Florentino Perez: "I called Rafa and asked him to talk to his uncle Miguel Angel, who was Mallorca's sports director.
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"[I told Nadal] to tell him that we wanted to buy him [Asensio].
"He behaved perfectly and we closed the deal quickly."
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New world No 1 Nadal, born in Mallorca, had another uncle who played for Barcelona in the early nineties.
But he's been a Madrid fan.
Asensio, meanwhile, was first loaned back to Mallorca from Real, then Espanyol.
When he went back to Madrid in 2016 he announced himself on the world stage with a brilliant goal in the 3-2 Uefa Super Cup win over Sevilla.
Spain coach Julen Lopetegui named him in his first squad of the new season.
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If things continue to go well he could shine at next summer's World Cup finals.
Like Nadal, he is set to adorn the world stage.
